Issue - meetings

As part of the Active Travel Programme, feasibility work has been completed for the ‘Badger Hill Active Travel Scheme’. This report presents the proposed scheme and seeks a decision to progress to detailed design and delivery.

Resolved: That option 1 be approved, as presented in the report and visually represented in Annex A, and proceed to detailed design and construction.

Reason: This proposal achieves the scheme objectives, enhancing the local environment for pedestrian and cyclists and de-prioritising motor vehicle traffic and discouraging parent parking on verge areas during school drop-off and pick-up times. The scheme falls within the available budget.

The Director of Environment, Transport and Planning introduced the report and the Head of Programmes and ITSpresented it.

The Head of Programmes and ITS summarised the aims of the plan confirming that  49% of respondents to consultation said that they believed they would personally benefit from the proposals. He advised that the plans had been fed back to Active Travel England who he believed broadly supported them in their current form.  He confirmed that in LTN1/20 assessment, the plan scored higher than previous arrangement, with an overall pass. One critical fail was noted as part of this assessment regarding speeds on Field Lane, and the proposed solution to this would be to install a signalised crossing point as part of a future scheme. He noted that this could not be undertaken as part of this plan as the budget did not allow it.

Regarding the point raised in Public Participation regarding enforcement, he confirmed that this would be further explored by officers. In response to the point regarding the metrics by which the relative success of the scheme would be measured after implementation – he stated that officers would ask the same questions again and compare responses. Responding to the point raised about materials used for bollards – and the possibility of using planters in place of bollards, he stated that they could not yet commit but were still at the detailed design stage.

The Executive Member noted Mr D’Agorne’s comments, suggesting that while this was not the ideal scheme, it was something that could be delivered to the budget available and that Mr D’Agorne had in fact commissioned the plan himself under the previous executive.

He also noted the points raised by Mr Mortimer regarding measurement of responses and enforcement, confirming that enforcement would be further explored. He acknowledged that asking the same questions again would give a satisfactory comparison, and while a more scientific method of analysis would perhaps give more detail it would also potentially be cost prohibitive.

Resolved: That option 1 be approved, as presented in the report and visually represented in Annex A, and proceed to detailed design and construction.

Reason: This proposal achieves the scheme objectives, enhancing the local environment for pedestrian and cyclists and de-prioritising motor vehicle traffic and discouraging parent parking on verge areas during school drop-off and pick-up times. The scheme falls within the available budget.